Softness
by Aaron Nowack
Summary: Kabuto understands Sasuke better than Orochimaru does. A short snippet playing off of Chapter 342.


Softness  
A Naruto Fanfic  
By: Aaron Nowack

"You didn't kill any of them. You're still too soft."

"They aren't the ones I want to kill."

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Disclaimer: This story is based of the Naruto manga, which belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who is not me. Therefore, Naruto does not belong to me; I'm merely borrowing it. The text of this story is mine, however, and I'd appreciate it if it was not stolen. Joke goes here.

* * *

"You know, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto chided as his softly glowing hands moved lower down on the younger man's bare back, "there's a difference between hiding weakness and stupidity."

The Uchiha shifted, instinctively pulling away from the chilly heat of the medical ninja's chakra. As if to compensate, he then pushed back, pressing against Kabuto's hands as though it would make the healing process go faster. His only response to Kabuto's comment was a grunt.

After almost three years, Kabuto was well-trained in interpreting the varied grunts Orochimaru's current apprentice produced, and he knew this one meant, "Shut up and heal me. I'm not here for conversation." Kabuto enjoyed annoying Sasuke, though, and he was in no mood to take the boy's orders.

"I mean," Kabuto continued, "it's hardly going to reflect poorly on you if you said something like, 'Orochimaru-sama, one of those dozen highly-trained jounin I just defeated hit me with some sort of nasty poison. Kabuto-san might want to look at it before it spreads to every tissue in my body.'"

Sasuke grunted again, and this time it meant, "I wouldn't call him that."

"No, you wouldn't call him Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto agreed. "It wouldn't hurt you to, though." The glow around his hands died, and they pulled away from Sasuke's back.

"You're the only one who seems to care about that," Sasuke said.

Kabuto picked up a white towel and began to wipe away the sickly green, half-solid mess that had emerged from Sasuke's back. "This used to be part of your liver," he commented, before responding to Sasuke's comment. "You're right, Orochimaru-sama doesn't care. But that's because he doesn't understand you." He sighed. "Not that it will matter, in the end," he added, and the towel brushed against the dark cursed seal on Sasuke's shoulder.

"And you do understand me?" Sasuke asked dryly.

"I've been watching you for many years, Sasuke-kun. Since… well, you know when you would have become of interest to Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke gave the grunt that meant, "Itachi," and Kabuto nodded.

"I would say, Sasuke-kun, that I probably know you better than anyone." He set aside the now-filthy towel, a green glow surrounding his hands again before they returned to Sasuke's back. "Orochimaru-sama doesn't care about your insolence because he thinks it means you don't respect him."

Sasuke responded with a grunt. "I don't," Kabuto read.

"Yes, you do, in a way," Kabuto replied. "Otherwise you wouldn't have come to him to help you in your revenge." He didn't say anything for some time.

"So what do you think my… insolence means?" Sasuke prompted after a while.

"It means that you don't fear him," Kabuto stated. "I correct you for your own good, Sasuke-kun. If you don't learn to fear Orochimaru-sama -"

"He won't kill me," Sasuke said, and it was the truth.

"No, but he could make your life much less pleasant," Kabuto said. "You don't fear him, and because of that one day you'll cross him stupidly." The medical ninja sighed. "And then you'll learn to fear the hard way."

"Hmph." Kabuto knew that Sasuke meant that to signal the end of the conversation.

That meant that he was going to continue it, of course. "That's why you shouldn't worry about what Orochimaru-sama said."

"Because I don't fear him?"

"No," Kabuto said, pausing to take a fresh towel and begin to wipe away another layer of poisoned mush from Sasuke's back. He made a mental note to save a sample to reverse-engineer this poison from before continuing. "Because he doesn't understand you."

"He thinks I'm soft," Sasuke said, and there was anger in his voice.

"And Orochimaru-sama is wrong," Kabuto replied. "You didn't kill those men because you didn't want or have to, that's all. You wouldn't have hesitated if you wanted or had to."

Sasuke grunted in agreement, wincing slightly as Kabuto pressed down a little too hard on a sore spot.

"Sorry," Kabuto apologized guiltlessly. He worked in silence for a moment, then said, "They weren't the ones you wanted to kill, huh?"

"No," Sasuke said.

"It wasn't too long ago," Kabuto said mildly, "that Orochimaru-sama and I had to stop you from killing Naruto-kun and Sakura-san." The medical ninja smiled, though he knew Sasuke couldn't see. "It's not just Itachi you want to kill."

Sasuke grunted.

Kabuto's smile widened. "And that's how I know that I understand you better than those two," he said. "Because if they knew you as I do, they wouldn't chase so hard after their own deaths."

Sasuke didn't grunt, and Kabuto laughed slightly, then returned to work.

No, Uchiha Sasuke wasn't soft at all.

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Author's Random Ramblings

No, I don't think that this is what Kishimoto meant by that last scene. It's much more likely it's intended to start portraying Sasuke in a more redeemable fashion.

But… well, it's hard not to interpret that, given his behavior toward Naruto and Sakura before, they must be numbered among "the ones he wants to kill." And so… this.


End file.
